Nancy Lengel

Nancy Jane Keim was born in Huntington, Indiana, on July 31, 1935, the second of four daughters of Howard H. and Winifred (O’Connor) Keim. Howard was a pastor in the Church of the Brethren and moved from congregation to congregation, so Nancy grew up all over Indiana, Iowa, and Illinois. Her father was a man of strong opinions, and in this Nancy (and all her sisters) took after him.

After graduating from high school in Indiana, Nancy attended McPherson College, where her parents had met, and formed lifelong connections of her own there. Foremost among them was Leland Lengel, a tall, droll history major from Colorado, who became the love of Nancy’s life and whom she married on May 31, 1957, shortly after she graduated with a bachelor of science degree. They spent their first year of married life in Elgin, Illinois, where Lee did his Brethren Volunteer Service while Nancy taught math to seventh graders. She told her young charges that if she ever had children, she would drown them when they reached the age of 12.

When Leland started graduate school at Duke University, the couple moved to Durham, North Carolina, where Nancy discovered that living in a house trailer was not her favorite thing. She worked for a doctor at the Duke Medical School, who had the habit of noting that “people are no damned good,” a slogan which soon became something of a Lengel family motto. In 1960 Nancy and Leland welcomed their first child, Douglas Alan, and then the family drove across the United States so that Lee could begin doctoral studies at the University of Oregon. In 1961 their second child, Carolyn Jean, was born. The Lengels discovered the truth of the saying “In Oregon you don’t tan — you rust,” while living in Eugene until Lee was offered a history position at McPherson College in 1963.

Nancy and Lee remained in McPherson for the rest of their days. Once the kids had gotten old enough to need less of her attention (and somehow — sometimes barely — remained un-drowned), Nancy took a job as a travel agent and enjoyed the opportunity to travel for work, visiting far-flung places including China, Australia, and the Soviet Union. Nancy’s love of international travel led to compromises with Leland’s love of slow trips on U.S. highways, and she and Leland continued to travel, together and separately, for the rest of their time together. Nancy later took a position in the registrar’s office at McPherson College, devoting more years of service to the institution that had been so important in her life. She remained there until she retired. She worked tirelessly through the years for Democratic political candidates and progressive causes and also enjoyed volunteering at the McPherson Opera House and hospital.

Lee died suddenly in 1998, and Nancy never ceased to miss him. She filled the void with a series of opinionated cats (Eliza, Puddin, and Sheena) and with trips to see Doug and his wife Wylene and Carolyn and her husband Mike and their daughter Harriet, Nancy’s much-loved granddaughter, born in 1999. She also went on travel adventures with her sisters Rowan Daggett, Lois Keim, and Julia King-Smith.

The polycystic kidney disease (PKD) that has been the bane of Nancy’s family slowed her down considerably in the last few years. She died peacefully on June 27, 2025, after refusing dialysis and other additional treatments for PKD.

She leaves behind her son and daughter-in-law Doug and Wylene (Gaeddert) Lengel, her daughter and son-in-law Carolyn Lengel and Mike Enright, her granddaughter Harriet Lee Lengel Enright, her sister Lois Keim and partner Beverly Gillia, and nephews John Daggett, Brad King, and Dan Daggett and their families.

A celebration of Nancy's life (come & go) will be held on Sunday, July 6, from 1:00 to 3:00 PM at the Cedars Event Center, 1019 Cedars Drive, McPherson.

Your memory of Nancy and the love that Jesus taught through the Beatitudes is all she would really want, but if you would like to give something in her honor, she recommended a few of her favorite charities... McPherson College, First Church of the Brethren in McPherson, Heifer International (which her father strongly supported), or the McPherson Cat House. Thank you for your memories!

She whom we love and lose is no longer where she was before. She is now wherever we are. 

~ St. John Chrysostom